Sixteen
by dellums
Summary: It's Ed's birthday, and all Roy wants to know is how old he's turning, for Pete's sake! Birthday fic for Sparklefarey16! Much love, babe.


He was blonde and his eyes glowed like amber. Short-tempered. And just short. He flexed the fingers of his right hand, and Roy could hear the subtle sound of metal hinges creaking.

"Is there even a reason you called me in here or are you just gonna keep staring at me like some pervert?"

In fact, Roy hadn't even really been looking at his guest, just listening and picturing him in his mind. But he glanced up and frowned as the boy seethed at him. "Actually, Edward, your mechanic called earlier."

Ed's heart sped up. Winry. Something was wrong, why was she calling? Something had definitely happened, oh god, what happened to Winry? He clenched his fists and got ready to stand up and run to the nearest train station. As soon as he found out what was wrong, he was taking off to help.

The older man smirked knowingly. "No reason to worry, Edward, she merely wanted to wish you a happy birthday." He watched as the boy relaxed noticeably and sat back in the chair.

"Is that all? Jeez, can't believe I actually came here for _that._" The Fullmetal Alchemist rolled his eyes and stood up. "Well, I'll be leaving then. If she calls again, tell her thanks."

Roy suddenly stood as well, his hands planted firmly on his desk. "It's true, isn't it?"

"What?" Ed asked, looking back over his shoulder and adjusting his gloves.

"Today is really your birthday. How old does that make you now?"

Edward grimaced. Roy seemed to know everything else about him, but he didn't even know how old he was? What a moron. "It doesn't matter."

Trying something else, Roy poured another glass of alcohol and held it out to the boy. "Here."

"Not that old," he replied, pulling the door open and leaning against the wall. "I told you. Age doesn't even matter to me. I'm still not any closer to finding the Philosopher's Stone. That's all that I care about right now."

Not for the first time, Colonel Mustang admired the maturity of the boy in front of him. He'd never met a child who cared as little about his birthday than Edward seemed to. Even Roy himself felt a little... well more upset than happy about his own birthday in these years, but at least he cared.

Edward yawned then, throwing his arms into the air. "Okay, I'm done here. Al and I are leaving to visit our Teacher again in... a few hours," he noted tiredly, looking at the clock. Eleven fifty-six p.m. already.

Roy waved him away and sighed as the door closed behind Ed.

That Elric boy. He really did work too hard for his age, but that's the way he seemed to like it. There was no way for anyone to get in the way of the motivational drive he had, not when it clunked around behind him in a giant metal suit everywhere he went. For the hundredth time, Roy went over their story in his mind, every single version he happened to hear. It changed so much as it was passed from town to town, but he knew the truth. He tried to imagine what it would feel like to be fourteen... or fifteen maybe...? and in the position that Edward was in. The things he saw, heard, felt.

He couldn't do it. Roy put his head in his hands and instantly, the chill washed out of him, replaced with warmth. He couldn't even imagine what they had gone through...

The door opened again, but the Flame Alchemist didn't look up, expecting Hughes or Hawkeye, or some other bothersome pest. "What do you want?" he asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of his velvet voice.

It was quiet for another second, before something cold touched his face and someone spoke quietly. "You don't have to pretend to be strong, you know. If that's what you're trying to do. I can tell. Your voice is weird."

Edward.

Roy wanted to look up, but he couldn't. Even meeting the boy's eyes seemed impossible right now. He didn't understand. How he could see such terrible things and still have eyes that glowed like that.

"Hey, you jerk!" Ed whispered loudly, another yawn threatening to escape. "It's my birthday, look at me, will you!"

Wearily, the older man lifted his head and blinked in surprise as Edward suddenly kissed him.

"You... your breath tastes like alcohol; it's gross," Ed noted, standing up straight and trying to hide the blush creeping up his face. "And stop looking at me like that, you idiot."

"Why did you-" Roy began in a low voice.

"Age doesn't matter..." he mumbled quietly. Ed scratched his head and fixed a stack of papers that he'd messed up on Roy's desk. He played with a pen to do something with his hands, and then looked back at the Colonel awkwardly. "Well, anyway, um, early morning tomorrow... I'm going to bed now, so... bye."

Roy watched him leave and close the door again and he smirked. That boy... He stood up to go as well and something caught his eye. The papers Ed had fixed were stacked neatly in the middle. Page sixteen lay on top and Roy was about to curse the boy for not putting them back in order when he realized the rest were in perfect numerical order.

He picked up page sixteen and saw that the number in the corner of the page was circled in red pen. Roy smiled and shook his head. "So," he said to himself. "Happy sixteenth birthday, Edward."


End file.
